16/12/2025 | Writer: Kaos GL
Speaking during the budget talks on the Ministry of Family and Social Services, DEM Party Women’s Assembly Spokesperson Halide Türkoğlu said: “We will not remain silent while you target LGBTI+ people by fueling gender based hate crimes under the banner of the ‘Year of the Family.’”
Speaking during the ongoing debates on the 2026 Central Government Budget Bill in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM), DEM Party Women’s Assembly Spokesperson Halide Türkoğlu criticized the budget of the Ministry of Family and Social Services.
Stating that every line of the budget deepens the lack of solutions to women’s problems, Türkoğlu began her speech by commemorating women murdered as a result of male-state violence and by greeting women politicians imprisoned in jails.
“We will not remain silent while LGBTI+ people are targeted”
Criticizing the decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, Türkoğlu also reacted to the targeting of LGBTI+ people under the banner of the “Year of the Family”:
“While you withdrew from the Istanbul Convention, which is women’s guarantee of life, we are continuing to struggle for its re-signing. At the same time, we continue to implement each article of the Convention in our local governments. We will not leave our rights, our lives, our existence to the mercy of this government’s male-dominated policies. We will not remain silent while you fuel gender based hate crimes and target LGBTI+ individuals under the name of the ‘Year of the Family.’ The right to life belongs to everyone, and we will not leave it to your mercy. Our struggle is for a common and equal life together in our diversity, against uniformity. We will build a new life and a democratic society, a country in which not a single person is excluded, denied, or othered.”
“A budget that feeds unsolved problems”
Emphasizing that the budget is not merely about numbers but reflects the approach to women’s poverty and the fight against violence, Türkoğlu said that Parliament deepens deadlock instead of producing solutions.
Recalling that when child abuse and sexual violence are raised even under the roof of Parliament, the government resorts to defenses such as “My staff, my police, my soldier, my imam would not do this,” Türkoğlu said:
“The institutions of this state have become so accustomed to the stench of social decay that they can no longer even sense the abuse experienced by girls.”
She called for the urgent establishment of a women’s commission composed of women MPs from all parties.
“Judicial aid data is a disgrace”
Sharing findings from research conducted in Diyarbakır and 14 provinces in the region, Türkoğlu pointed out that among 5.5 million women living in the region, only 5.582 were able to apply for legal aid:
“Only one out of every thousand women can access legal aid. This is a disgrace. It is the clearest proof that women cannot access justice, lack the financial means to hire lawyers, and are living in poverty. The judiciary in this country does not operate on law but on a masculinity pact. Policies of impunity and good conduct reductions empower perpetrators.”
Referring to Gülhan Taş, who was murdered in Ankara despite seven restraining orders against her killer, Türkoğlu said:
“We see that restraining orders remain only on paper and do not provide effective protection for women.”
“Shelters are insufficient; the target is to increase by just one”
Pointing out that the share allocated in the budget to empowering women is not even one-third of the funds allocated under the heading of “protecting the family,” Türkoğlu criticized the situation of shelters:
“When shelters function as they should, they are spaces that protect women’s right to life. Yet today, there are only 150 shelters affiliated with the ministry. The 2026 target is, tragically and comically, to open just one more shelter. If you cannot do it, transfer them to local governments and put an end to trustee policies. We continue to implement every article of the Istanbul Convention in our local governments.”
Türkoğlu also addressed rights violations in Removal Centers (GGM), stating that all forms of torture take place there and that migrant and refugee women are intimidated through the threat of deportation.
She criticized the framing of disability care services as a “duty” imposed on women, stressing that care must be a public service. Describing the 1.500 TL assistance provided to women whose spouses have died as a “culture of charity,” Türkoğlu said: "I am ashamed to even say this figure, but the Ministry presents it proudly.”
Tags: human rights, women, life, family, trans, lgbti
